{"id":774,"date":"2017-08-02T14:18:57","date_gmt":"2017-08-02T14:18:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.decamp.org\/?p=774"},"modified":"2026-04-30T23:42:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T23:42:43","slug":"pilgrimage-to-oshkosh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.decamp.org\/?p=774","title":{"rendered":"Pilgrimage to Oshkosh"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a few months traveling about by motorcycle, it was time to make the pilgrimage to Oshkosh with the Faust brothers.<\/p>\n

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Since 1970, Oshkosh, Wisconsin has been the home of the annual Experimental Aircraft Association<\/a> Airventure<\/a> fly-in.\u00a0 I had never been before, but tagged along with Rich and Mark this year.\u00a0 Rich has been a pilot for many years and Mark is about half-way through building an RV-10<\/a>.\u00a0 Both had been to Oshkosh before.<\/p>\n

Wow.\u00a0 About 590,000 people attended during the week and over 10,000 aircraft landed there and at nearby airports (we landed at Fond du Lac).\u00a0\u00a0 Air show performances and fly-bys were non-stop and it was fun just to walk through the fields looking at the planes.\u00a0 I caught a few forum sessions and even got a chance to ride (virtually) a BMW S1000RR motorcycle.\u00a0 From the official tally:<\/p>\n

Total showplanes:<\/strong> 2,991: 1,107 homebuilt aircraft, 1,162 vintage airplanes, 351 warbirds, 168 ultralights and light-sport aircraft, 79 seaplanes, 54 rotorcraft, 60 aerobatic aircraft, and 10 hot air balloons.<\/em><\/p>\n

Commercial exhibitors:<\/strong> 881.<\/p>\n

Forums and Workshops:<\/strong> A total of 1,050 sessions attended by more than 75,000 people.<\/p>\n

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One of the highlights for me was the concert by the Barenaked Ladies<\/a> on Monday.\u00a0 That’s Rich playing with a fidget spinner (booth swag) as he patiently waits for the concert to start.<\/p>\n

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Barenaked Ladies play the theme from The Big Bang Theory.<\/p>\n